Cost of Taking a Stand – Matthew 10:24-39

A text – Matthew 10:24-39

²⁴ “A disciple is not above the teacher nor a slave above the master; ²⁵ it is enough for the disciple to be like the teacher and the slave like the master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household!

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered and nothing secret that will not become known. ²⁷ What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim from the housetops. ²⁸ Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. ²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ And even the hairs of your head are all counted. ³¹ So do not be afraid; you are of more value than many sparrows.

³² “Everyone, therefore, who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven, ³³ but whoever denies me before others, I also will deny before my Father in heaven.

³⁴ “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace but a sword.

³⁵ For I have come to set a man against his father,
and a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law,
³⁶ and one’s foes will be members of one’s own household.

³⁷ “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me, ³⁸ and whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. ³⁹ Those who find their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it.

A reflection:

Deep faith, abiding faith in something, someone, other than those closest to you, to whom you have made promises, is bound to collide and clash with what you hold dear, sometimes. Jesus knew this. To be who he was and accomplish the ministry and witness he came to the earth to make caused rifts in Mary and Joseph’s family. Jesus’s siblings may even have believed that Jesus was the son of God from little on, but that didn’t stop them from resenting his presence as a “special” child in the family. Heck, we resent our own siblings for less earth-shattering reasons than that, right?

And when your faith calls you to stand for something bigger than yourself, taking that stand will cost you something – ease, safety, maybe friends, single-minded focus at work, perhaps. People don’t like that. But Paul, in Philippians, says the single-mindedness we need to embrace is having the one mind that was given to us in Christ Jesus – focus on our heavenly father and the welfare of our neighbor above our own comfort. When it costs us something, Jesus says, we will be given more than compensating joy with God.

I suppose this passage of Matthew is a warning to the Twelve that they will face hardships and persecution for being his disciples and later apostles.  Jesus wants them to know he will be with them through it all and will help them through the dark days. What about us? We are not apostles, sent out into the world to tell the story of Jesus, are we? Wait a minute. We are. Most of us live in countries where religion has become privatized and domesticated to the point where it doesn’t seem to matter what anyone believes. But it does matter, and if we stand against injustice more outwardly than just in our living rooms, we are making a public statement, as our faith calls us to do. This will cause a reaction! But even taking such a stand in our own homes, in front of our children and partners, can cause divisions, resentment, embarrassment; the repercussions can feel like a sword.

Jesus wants us to remember that our life with God is a very long one – eternal, in fact. If the part of it we spend on earth gets involved with bearing witness to the Triune God, and it causes fractures, those are temporary. And remember, if your friends and family love you and if you risk it all to bear witness to the Kingdom of God, your stand may speak to them, too. Resentment can end. Your witness is to a God without end.

A prayer:

Lord God, thank you for loving us. Thank you for being with us to give us courage to stand for what you have taught us. Help us to push through the pain of losing, even for a short time, connections with friends and family because we wanted to stand for your truth and love for all people. Amen.